‘Prince’ Rogers Nelson Dies at 57

I distinctly remember that day. During carpooling between commuting hours from work, I turned to the radio on my friend’s beat up Vanagon for some classic rock nostalgia.

I find it enticing for a classic FM station to play “Little Red Corvette” when the song was only known to play on 80’s hit station (or exceptionally on 80’s theme power hour). Scouting for other tunes, my pal switched to another station only to find “1999” on the mainstream channel.

It daunts me to know how speculative it is to find two Prince song’s playing simultaneously from different stations.

Infuriating enough we tuned to the independent WPFW (Jazz and Justice) station in hope for some jazz instead, only to find “When Doves Cry” playing unexpectedly in it. Both of us in the car grew spectacle about Prince’s trolling tunes until a fellow commuter stopped near us during a red light intersection. The commuter had “Purple Rain” in his radio, and we knew the song based on how loud his radio was.

We exchange such dubious conspiracy on how Prince’s presence was everywhere on the radio, and that’s when he reported: “haven’t you heard? The Prince is gone.”

Minneapolis native and music icon Rogers Nelson, also known as Jamie Starr, Joey Coco, Paisley Park, Alexander Nevermind, Christopher, The Purple One, TAFKAP, ‘slave’,, O(+>,’unknown’, and finally The Artist Formally Known as Prince, has passed away at the age of 57.

Reports has said that the artist had a serious case of the flu that forced one of his recent tour dates to cancel a show at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Less than two weeks later, Prince was seen in good shape at a record store in Minneapolis to celebrate Record Store Day.

The following morning on April 21, 2016, Prince was found unresponsive at his complex home (Paisley Park Complex) and was pronounced dead at 10:07 am.

The cause of death is still unknown, but reports stated that a drug overdose may have been played in his death.

Prince was known for his flamboyant, virtuoso, eclectic stage presence that resonates to his wide range of voice in every song he sang. Prince was also known to be one of the greatest artist of the 20th century, selling 100 million records worldwide which made him one of the best-selling artists of all time, listed between Neil Diamond and Paul McCartney. He also pioneered the ‘Minneapolis Sound’, a mixture of genre that blends funk, pop, rock, synth and new wave altogether. Artists that followed this hybrid genre included The Time, Sheila E, Human League, The Jets, and Bruno Mars.

“Prince was also known to be one of the greatest artist of the 20th century, selling 100 million records worldwide which made him one of the best-selling artists of all time, listed between Neil Diamond and Paul McCartney.”

At the age of 19, he releases his debut album For You (1978) which helped jump start his music career after numerous attempt to impress record companies with his demo tapes. In just weeks after his debut release, Warner Bros. prompted Prince to record another album that resulted the Platinum hit self titled album Prince (1979), which then followed by Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1999–I mean 1982).

Prince’s musical ideology became highly anticipated after the successful album and musical film adaptation release of Purple Rain (1984) which is considered one of the greatest album in music history. Coining his backup band as The Revolution, Prince and The Revolution ‘revolutionize’ on what the 80’s music era became upon, influencing many 80’s artists such as Madonna, Boy George, Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson.

Friends and fans around the world are truly devastated and still mourning his passing.

The city of Minneapolis pays its respect with purple color decorated everywhere in the city, embodying the reflection of ‘Purple Rain’ including Twins stadium Target Field highlighting purple lights. Many Minneapolis citizens find it haunting to know that the day Prince died was the day it unexpectedly rain.